I recently shared about my struggles with fear and anxiety which seemed to come to a head after my Daddy passed away in January. Daddy was one of my biggest fans and always made an effort to attend my track and cross country meets. 

Daddy was my first two-a-day training partner. When I was 12 years old, we would get up early and run a one mile loop from our house. I used to laugh at the way he would attempt to stretch as we sat on the floor in the middle of our kitchen. He looked so awkward and could barely stretch past his knees. Not that I was the queen of  nimbleness, but it was a funny sight!

Most the time I would run way ahead and then circle back towards him. He was completely okay with that. He seemed to genuinely enjoy our morning runs and never complained about having to do them. As I got a little older, he would ride the bicycle along side of me so that I could run faster and farther.

Fast forward almost 40 years and it was June the 11th, the Monday before this year’s Go! Mile. I was on the treadmill running for the 3rd time since Mother’s day weekend, when I got the wild idea to enter the race. To say I was completely unprepared, was an understatement! I love this race. I love this distance. While some of you reading this might prefer to run 3 or 4 hours or more doing a marathon, not this chica! 

The mile! It’s where I set my first school record, a 6:14.1, as a scrawny 11 year old. I loved the challenge of trying to run consistent laps. I loved that my coaches, teammates, and family could see the entire race unfold and I could hear their cheers. Oh and dare I say it…I enjoyed lapping slower runners. I didn’t even mind when they combined the boys and girls in the interest of time. Daddy would always get a kick out of seeing how many of the boys I beat. 

Obviously, if you can’t tell, I’m a wee bit competitive! Very rarely will I ever enter I race I’m not prepared for. But, as I ran on that treadmill, that Monday afternoon, I fought the tears as I decided it was time. It was time to get over the hump of yet another first. The first race I would run since Daddy passed away. I began to make a 5 day training plan to get me ready for the race.

The 5 Day Training Plan

I ran every single day at a pace that kept me in my aerobic threshold training zone. Each day I ran between 1-3 miles. I walked if I needed to bring my heart rate down. These were some really slow runs often at 12-13 minute per mile pace. The more time I could spend in my aerobic threshold zone, the more likely I could push myself at the Go! Mile without feeling like I was going to die.

The Race Plan

Basically I had no expectations! Seriously, I mean that. I just didn’t know what I could do. I knew from what I had run with Rebecca, the girl I had trained for the Women Can Run 5K on Mother’s day weekend, a month earlier, that a 10 minute mile was doable. A sub 9 might even be realistic. I wanted to run a sub 8:30 though, but I hadn’t run anything that fast since last fall. My only plan was not to go out too fast.

The Race

The Go! Mile is run in heats based on age and gender. Thankfully the 40+ ladies get to go first. Always a good thing when its June in Arkansas! This is how unprepared I was: I got to the race and realized I had left my chip at home. I hadn’t even laid out my clothes the night before or attached my chip to my shoe, but I did manage to grab a picture of Daddy and put it in a ziplock bag in my shorts pocket. I was quickly issued a replacement chip and only had a few minutes to warm up. 

When the gun went off, I held back and stuck to my plan. I was afraid of dying in that last quarter. I went through the first quarter at 1:50.1, a sub 8 minute pace Since I felt pretty good, I formulated a plan to try to stay in the 1:50s for that remaining quarters. In the second quarter I started passing several of the ladies. By the half, I was catching up to my friend Pam. The second quarter was a 1:57.7.

I figured I’d tuck in and run behind Pam hoping to keep up with her. However, Pam seemed to be slowing down, so I ran past her and waited for her to run me down. It was starting to feel really hard by this point. I reminded myself of Daddy and thought about his picture in my pocket. I could hear him telling me that I was the most tenacious person he knew other than himself! Tenacious. I repeated this word in my head over and over. “You are tenacious Beverly. This is hard, but dig deep, it’s only a mile. You’ve got this!”

I passed a few more ladies as I saw my friend and teammate, Natalie, cheering for me. The third split was 1:59.3. Still in the 1:50s. Right in line with the race strategy I formulated during the race!

The final quarter only has one turn, then a long straight stretch to the finish line. I was really feeling winded by this point. “Tenacious, I reminded myself! You’re done when you get to the end of this road!” Two ladies I had passed in the third quarter, came charging back. I tried to go with them, but didn’t have it. It was okay. I was so stinking proud for putting myself out there and running this race. Daddy would be really proud! I was grinning as I pushed myself as hard as I could and ran through the finish line.

The final quarter was a 1:51.3 and my over all time was 7:38.5! What?!?! I was stunned, encouraged and inspired! And really really outta breath! After all the heats were run and the results tabulated, I placed 2nd in my age group. And Pam? Well, she tucked in behind me for the rest of the race finishing third in our age group. 

Have you ever run an inspired race where you were not completely prepared? Leave me a comment below and tell me about it!